As the ESPN analysts vociferously panned the Raptors’ choice ” “Absolutely shocked!” hollered the usually rah-rah Dick Vitale ” the crowd cheered in agreement. When Villanueva took the podium in New York’s Madison Square Garden for his first interview as a Raptor, Toronto’s fans, saddened via satellite, filled the Air Canada Centre with boos.

“There’s gotta be a trade,” said one distraught fan. “Gotta be,” said another.

But there was no trade brewing behind the scenes, no secret swap to explain the unexpected. A year after defying expectations and selecting the disastrous Rafael Araujo in the No. 8 slot, Raptors general manager Rob Babcock had dropped another out-of-nowhere name.

You’ve heard of out-of-the-box thinking, but this ” going with a frequently maligned 20-year-old few experts figured worthy of the top 10 ” was out-on-a-limb thinking. And, if it doesn’t pan out the way the Raptors are hoping, it could be, for Babcock, out-of-a-job thinking.

“The average fan isn’t studying the draft and all the players like we do,” said Babcock.

I heard one explanation on the radio earlier today ; the Raptors had Villenuva work out and “fell in love with him”. In that case, invite Charlie to a Viletones reunion gig. If things go ok, you can both visit Tim Horton’s Donuts in the morning. But for the love of god, don’t draft him at number seven!